home

noun

\ ˈhōm

plural homes

Essential Meaning of home

1 : the place (such as a house or apartment) where a person lives Right now his home is a small apartment. People are concerned about protecting their homes. See More Examples(chiefly US) The neighborhood is filled with expensive new homes. [=houses] They've started on a major home-improvement project. [=a project to make their house better, bigger, more modern, etc.] They have a second/vacation home on the lake. There's no place like home. Let's stay at home tonight. [=let's not go out tonight] I must have left my notes at home. We're a long way from home. [=we are not close to our house] I will be away from home [=I will not be at my house] for two weeks. He has no place to call home. [=he does not have a place to live] He works at/from home. [=he does his work in his house and not in an office building]Hide

2 : a family living together in one building, house, etc. She made a good home for her husband and children. She came from a troubled home. [=a family with many problems] See More ExamplesHe comes from a broken home. [=a family in which the parents have divorced] She lived at home [=she lived with her parents or family] until she got married. He left home [=left his parent's house and lived in his own house] after graduating from high school.Hide

3 : a place where something normally or naturally lives or is located Australia is the home [=habitat] of the kangaroo. The islands are home to many species of birds.

Full Definition of home

(Entry 1 of 6)

1a : one's place of residence : domicile has been away from home for two weeks a place to call home

b : house several homes for sale in the area

2 : the social unit formed by a family living together trying to make a good home for their children comes from a loving home

3a : a familiar or usual setting : congenial environment also : the focus of one's domestic attention home is where the heart is

b : habitat the home of the kangaroo The island is home to many species of birds.

4a : a place of origin salmon returning to their home to spawn also : one's own country having troubles at home and abroad

b : headquarters sense 2 home of the dance company

5 : an establishment providing residence and care for people with special needs homes for the elderly

6 : the objective in various games especially : home plate

at home

1 : relaxed and comfortable : at ease felt completely at home on the stage

2 : in harmony with the surroundings

3 : on familiar ground : knowledgeable teachers at home in their subject fields

home

adverb

Definition of home (Entry 2 of 6)

1 : to or at one's place of residence or home (see home entry 1 sense 1a) told the dog to go home stayed home all day

2a : to a final, closed, or ultimate position drive a nail home

b : to or at an ultimate objective (such as a goal or finish line) fired the puck home

3 : to a vital sensitive core the truth struck home

home free

: out of jeopardy : in a comfortable position with respect to some objective

home

adjective

Definition of home (Entry 3 of 6)

1 : of, relating to, or being a place of residence, place of origin, or base of operations the company's home office

2 : prepared, done, or designed for use in a home (see home entry 1) home remedies home cooking a home entertainment system

3 : operating or occurring in an area that is a headquarters or base of operations the home team home games

home

verb

homed; homing

Definition of home (Entry 4 of 6)

intransitive verb

1 : to go or return to one's place of residence or origin : to go or return home (see home entry 1) let us home

2 of an animal : to return accurately to one's native area of place of birth or origin from a distance : to return home The salmon will home to spawn.

3 : to move to or toward an objective by following a signal or landmark —usually used with on or in missiles homing in on a targetmariners … sought the dark spires of Oakland's redwoods to home on— J. W. Noble

4 : to proceed or direct attention toward an objective science is homing in on the mysterious human process— Sam Glucksberg

transitive verb

: to send to or provide with a home hidden pools and much wider creeks each of which homed its cranes— I. L. Idriess

Home

biographical name (1)

\ ˈhyüm

, ˈhōm \

Definition of Home (Entry 5 of 6)

Sir Alec Douglas- 1903–1995 British prime minister (1963–64)

Home

biographical name (2)

Definition of Home (Entry 6 of 6)

William Douglas- 1912–1992 brother of Alec Douglas-Home British dramatist

Synonyms More Example Sentences Learn More About home

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Examples of home in a Sentence

Noun Right now his home is a small apartment. People are concerned about protecting their homes. They have a second home on the lake. There's no place like home. I must have left my notes at home. She made a good home for her husband and children. The islands are home to many species of birds. Can you find homes for these files in your office? Adverb She called home to say she would be late for dinner. He's sending money home from a job overseas. She is on her way home. It's great to be back home. I can't wait to come home. He used a hammer to drive the nail home. Adjective She has a happy home life. Please give us your home phone number. What is your home address? The team opens its home season in just two weeks.

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun Kenney apologized for the dire situation and is now reluctantly introducing a vaccine passport and imposing a mandatory work-from-home order two months after lifting nearly all restrictions. — Rob Gillies, ajc, 22 Sep. 2021 However, this year the event is also offering a virtual option, so anyone can attend from home. — Alexis Oatman, cleveland, 22 Sep. 2021 Those who won’t get the shot might have to wear a mask, get tested regularly or work from home, for example. — Sophie Carson, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 22 Sep. 2021 Organizers are encouraging guests who are fully vaccinated to attend in person and will provide virtual options for guests who are not vaccinated or who prefer to participate from home. — courant.com, 22 Sep. 2021 Being away from home, the travel and, to be quite honest, having to stay at the top and prove people wrong. — Jason Duaine Hahn, PEOPLE.com, 22 Sep. 2021 Pandemic buyers, spurred by low interest rates and a year of some working from home, began shopping for new homes, causing a rise in prices. — William Thornton | Wthornton@al.com, al, 22 Sep. 2021 Also noted was that a greater percentage of the mid-week miles are local roads due to work-from-home adults only needing to run local errands. — Steve Tengler, Forbes, 22 Sep. 2021 Kenney apologized for the dire situation and is now reluctantly introducing a vaccine passport and imposing a mandatory work-from-home order two months after lifting nearly all restrictions. — Rob Gillies, USA TODAY, 21 Sep. 2021 Recent Examples on the Web: Adverb Tim Born chose to retire from the Marine Corps to stay home and support his young daughters who suffered psychological trauma from the attack. — Teny Sahakian, Fox News, 11 Sep. 2021 After working out other transportation last week, Jasper was forced to stay home this week. — Rory Linnane, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 10 Sep. 2021 Halloween is the perfect excuse to get dressed up and head out to a costume party, go trick-or-treating, or even stay home and watch your favorite scary movies. — Jennifer Aldrich, Better Homes & Gardens, 10 Sep. 2021 High transmission is also harming economic recovery as people stay home to avoid the virus. — Alexandra Skinner, The Conversation, 10 Sep. 2021 Others are working parents—usually mothers—who’ve either struggled to find day care or needed to stay home while their kids learned remotely. — Fortune, 10 Sep. 2021 Twitter is allowing almost all employees to work remotely forever, and 95% of its over 5,500 employees plan to stay home or be in the office only a few days a week. — Roland Li, San Francisco Chronicle, 10 Sep. 2021 But data from the Transportation Security Administration suggested that people did not stay home in droves. — Compiled Democrat-gazette Staff From Wire Reports, Arkansas Online, 8 Sep. 2021 Food industry workers fell ill with COVID-19 at higher rates than other workers; many had to stay home without pay or use their own money for personal protective equipment like masks and gloves. — Irina Ivanova, CBS News, 8 Sep. 2021 Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective Virtual care is likely here to stay: Medicare began covering remote appointment benefits in 2019, but limited them to rural areas and non-home settings. — oregonlive, 12 Oct. 2020 The Astros were scheduled to play two home exhibition games and six regular season games at Minute Maid Park prior to April 9 — the earliest date on which the schedule will resume. — Chandler Rome, Houston Chronicle, 14 Mar. 2020 The Hawks will play two home exhibition games at Georgia Tech’s McCamish Pavilion (Oct. 9 and Oct. 12) as Philips Arena undergoes renovation. — Michael Cunningham, ajc, 1 Oct. 2017 Recent Examples on the Web: Verb The event included experts to advise on topics of interest to home gardeners for their own backyard gardens and landscaping. — Linda Gandee, cleveland, 6 Sep. 2021 As federal prosecutors home in on possible obstruction charges, state police leaders have redoubled their hunt for leaks in a case that’s steeped the agency in controversy and divided its ranks. — Jim Mustian And Jake Bleiberg, The Christian Science Monitor, 5 Aug. 2021 As federal prosecutors home in on possible obstruction charges, state police leaders have redoubled their hunt for leaks in a case that’s steeped the agency in controversy and divided its ranks. — Jim Mustian And Jake Bleiberg, The Christian Science Monitor, 5 Aug. 2021 Customers flock to Copper Kettle from all over the state; some are chefs, others home cooks. — Jennifer Rude Klett, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 17 Aug. 2021 But Machado hoped to help researchers develop better pest-management strategies by delving into how, specifically, grubs use CO2 and other signals to home in on roots. — Tess Joosse, Scientific American, 16 Aug. 2021 As federal prosecutors home in on possible obstruction charges, state police leaders have redoubled their hunt for leaks in a case that’s steeped the agency in controversy and divided its ranks. — Jim Mustian And Jake Bleiberg, The Christian Science Monitor, 5 Aug. 2021 As federal prosecutors home in on possible obstruction charges, state police leaders have redoubled their hunt for leaks in a case that’s steeped the agency in controversy and divided its ranks. — Jim Mustian And Jake Bleiberg, The Christian Science Monitor, 5 Aug. 2021 As federal prosecutors home in on possible obstruction charges, state police leaders have redoubled their hunt for leaks in a case that’s steeped the agency in controversy and divided its ranks. — Jim Mustian And Jake Bleiberg, chicagotribune.com, 4 Aug. 2021

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'home.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of home

Noun

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Adverb

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Adjective

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1802, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

History and Etymology for home

Noun

Middle English hom, hoome "dwelling, building, one's native town or land," going back to Old English hām "landed property, estate, dwelling, house, inhabited place, native land," going back to Germanic *haima- "dwelling" (whence also Old Saxon & Old Frisian hēm "home, dwelling," Middle Dutch heem, heim "dwelling," Old High German heima "dwelling, homeland," Old Norse heimr "abode, land, this world," Gothic haims "village, countryside, [in compounds] home"), of uncertain origin

Note: A widely accepted etymology sees Germanic *haima- as going back to Indo-European *ḱoi-mo, an o-grade derivative, with a suffix *-mo-, of the verbal base *ḱei- "lie, be at rest." Also from *ḱoi-mo- would be an assumed Greek *koímē or *koîmos "bed," the source of the denominal derivative koimáō, koimân "to put to bed, lay to rest" (see cemetery); further associated are Lithuanian šeimà "family, household members (including servants)," Latvian sàime, Russian Church Slavic sěmĭ "person," sěmija, translating Greek andrápoda "prisoners of war sold as slaves," sěminŭ "slave, household member," Russian sem'já "family," Ukrainian sim'já. (Lithuanian kiẽmas "farmstead, village" and káimas "village" are perhaps related, via a form with a centum outcome of ḱ, or as a loanword from Germanic.) According to an alternative hypothesis, Germanic *haima- goes back to Indo-European *tḱoi̯-mo-, a derivative with *-mo- from Indo-European *tḱei̯- "dwell, inhabit" (in a more traditional representation *ḱþei̯-; see amphictyony). Directly comparable would be Sanskrit kṣémaḥ "habitable," kṣémaḥ or -am (noun) "calm, quiet, safety," which within Sanskrit are direct derivatives from kṣéti "(s/he) dwells." The Baltic and Slavic forms cited above would then be attributable to this form.

Adverb

Middle English hom, going back to Old English hām, probably from accusative of hām "dwelling, home entry 1" (with parallel forms in other Germanic languages)

Adjective

from attributive use of home entry 1

Verb

derivative of home entry 1

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